


Pool Scene: A Jim Moriarty Oneshot

by Accidental_Ducky



Series: A Father's Compromise [12]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Johnlock - Freeform, M/M, mormor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-28
Updated: 2015-03-28
Packaged: 2018-03-20 02:15:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3632877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Accidental_Ducky/pseuds/Accidental_Ducky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now, everyone knows that there's no real way to look intimidating when you appear to be a normal dad taking your daughter for a swimming lesson, that's just a fact and there's really no changing it, but if anyone can make a Soccer Dad intimidating without scaring his child, then it's James Moriarty. He hopes so, at least.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pool Scene: A Jim Moriarty Oneshot

The one big problem with being a consulting criminal and having a daughter, Jim soon found out, wasn't keeping Thalia away from his work, but finding a babysitter in time for his work to happen. Normally he would have planned all of this out in advance, but there was no babysitter willing to watch Thalia past eleven and his meeting with Sherlock starts at twelve in the morning, far past Thalia's bedtime. So, he'd done the only thing he could that would ensure her relative safety and keep her away from Sebastian's sniper rifles—he dressed her up and brought her with him to the pool where it all began for Jim.

As it is, Thalia has on a one-piece bathing suit, an inflated plastic float ring around her waist made to look like a turtle, orange water wings around her upper arms, goggles for her eyes, and a snorkel. In all honesty, Jim would prefer her to wear the pretty dress he'd picked out for her, but the second they entered the building, the four year old ran off to change.

Now, everyone knows that there's no real way to look intimidating when you appear to be a normal dad taking your daughter for a swimming lesson, that's just a fact and there's really no changing it, but if anyone can make a Soccer Dad intimidating without scaring his child, then it's James Moriarty. He hopes so, at least.

They'd picked up Watson a few minutes before they arrived, Thalia managing a few tears and begging the good doctor to help her find her daddy. She led him to an alley where her papa had jumped Watson and wired him up with the Semtex. Johnny boy was standing just out of sight while they waited for Sherlock to arrive and Jim put his mind to talking Thalia into changing again.

"Now, sweetie," Jim says in the kindest voice he can manage," what have I told you about making impressions."

"That they don't matter when Papa takes care of people," she responds instantly with a bright smile.

"Well... You're not wrong about that part." He smooths his hair back, brown eyes narrowing slightly as he thinks up a new way to make her understand. "Okay, but don't you want people to know that you look so beautiful in that new dress you wore on the way here?" She tilts her head to the right, looking up at Jim with those big blue eyes of hers. "No, don't do the pouty eyes, you know that's not fair." She pokes her bottom lip out, mustering up a few tears to make Jim feel like the scum of the earth, which isn't easy considering how highly he regards himself. He lets out a long sigh, one look at his watch letting him know that Sherlock should arrive at any minute. "Fine, but no jumping in the pool without an adult in there with you."

"Thank you, Daddy!" She wraps her arms around his waist tightly, nuzzling her face against his stomach in a loving gesture only children are capable of. He pats her head, absently fixing her crooked ponytail. Honestly, Sebastian isn't allowed to fix their daughter's hair ever again. He always sent her off to school with lopsided pigtails or crooked ponytails, and once he sent her to school without her hair even being brushed. "I'm still pretty, ain't I?"

"Of course you are, Honeybear." She beams up at him, practically jumping up and down when she hears Sherlock's voice ring out. She knew that meant they would soon enter the room that held the pool, though Moriarty was reluctant about having her swim in something the public masses have been in. Perhaps he should just hire someone to build an indoor pool in their country estate? It could be a birthday present. Snapping out of his thoughts, Jim brings the microphone up to his mouth and instructs the doctor to step inside to face Sherlock.

"Evening," John greets in monotone, repeating the word Moriarty just spoke, though the criminal mastermind put much more emphasis on the word. "This is a turn-up, isn't it, Sherlock?"

"John," comes Sherlock's astonished response," What the hell...?" Thalia’s eyes go wide when she hears the swear word, shaking her head a little to show she disapproved. Jim just winks at her, sure she would find the time to demand a dollar from Sherlock for her swear jar.

"Bet you never saw this coming." Thalia giggles quietly at the tones Jim uses, her little hands moving to cover her mouth and muffle the noise.

"Open your coat, Johnny boy," Jim instructs in a sing-song tone," let your boy toy see your new accessory." Jim watches through the small window as John obliges, the other man removing his hands from his coat pockets and opening the coat further to show Sherlock the Semtex binding John to Jim's will. It's all so much fun and Jim is having trouble not laughing along with his daughter. "What would you like me to make him say next?" While John spoke in monotone still, Jim made his words sound as though they were being spoken by an excited ten year old. "Gottle of geer! Gottle  _of geer_ , gottle..."

"Stop it," Sherlock interrupts, looking around the pool, but never pinpointing where Jim and Thalia hid.

"Nice touch this, the pool where little Carl died," John continues, his hands clenching and unclenching by his sides. "I stopped him." Sebastian raises his rifle, the bright red laser fixed to the top of it beaming down to rest on John's chest. "I can stop John Watson, too. Stop his heart." Sherlock turns away from John in frustrated anger, looking in the wrong direction.

"Who are you?" Jim smiles down at Thalia, taking one of her hands in his as he pulls the door open.

"I gave you my number," he calls out to get Sherlock's attention," I thought you might call." Thalia smiles, recognizing the tone Jim uses whenever he reads her  _The Hobbit_ , the voice used for Bilbo. Jim and Thalia move further into the room, Jim making sure he kept a good grip on Thalia's hand in case she decided it'd be a good idea to jump into the freezing water in the pool. "Is that a British Army Browning L9A1 in your pocket," Jim asks in his regular voice," or are you just pleased to see me?" Sherlock pulls out said handgun, pointing it at Jim, though he did send a glance down at Thalia first.

"Both." Jim pauses by one of the supports, his free hand in his pocket while Thalia twirls around like a little ballerina, unable to focus on the danger of the situation and feeling completely safe with her daddy nearby. In her mind, she was safer than the Queen as long as her daddy and papa were nearby, and she wasn’t wrong about it either.

"Jim Moriarty, hi." Sherlock's only reaction in a confused look, clearly unable to remember where he's seen Jim before and wondering where the child had come from. "Jim?" He begins to walk again, tugging Thalia along with him. "Jim from the hospital?" Sherlock brings his other hand up to help steady the gun should he need to fire it, though he wouldn't get the chance, not with Sebastian hiding upstairs. "Oh, did I really make such a fleeting impression? But then, I suppose," his tone changes again, going a bit high-pitched," that was rather the point." He watches as Sherlock's gaze cuts momentarily to John's chest before darting back to Moriarty. "Don't be silly. Someone else is holding the rifle." Thalia opens her mouth to proudly proclaim just who that someone is, but one stern look from Jim has her closing her mouth again. "I don't like getting my hands dirty."

“Not even with birthday cake,” Thalia states without a care. She looks up at him with those pouty eyes that never failed to make him cave, tugging insistently on his hand. “When can I go swim?” Jim gives a curt shake of his head to show her now is not the time for such questions.

"Be a good girl, darling, I’m working.”

“Spoilsport.” Jim swallows down a petty response, deciding to focus back on the two men across from them. John’s stance was rigid, though Jim supposed most ordinary people would be afraid that a wrong twitch would blow them to smithereens. Why should Sherlock’s little pet be any different?

“I've given you a glimpse, Sherlock, just a teensy glimpse of what I've got going on out there in the big bad world. I'm a specialist, you see. Like you." He can see the realization bloom in Sherlock's eyes, but still he could not grasp how powerful Moriarty is. Jim had connections everywhere in the world, his own personal web that stretched across the entire globe.

"Dear Jim," Sherlock states in example," please, will you fix it for me to get rid of my lover's nasty sister?" Jim chuckles, taking a few more steps forward with Thalia coming after. "Dear Jim, please will you fix it for me to disappear to South America?"

"Just so," Jim agrees with the faux English accent he uses to mock Sebastian's father on holidays.

"A consulting criminal. Brilliant!" He knew Sherlock would appreciate that, a darkness to his light. Demons and angels were all well and good, but if they were put on a scale, then James Moriarty would be nothing less than the devil. Criminals told scary stories about what happened to those that crossed Moriarty, never knowing that the big man himself was making his plans with a sleepy child curled up in his lap.

"Isn't it?" Jim allows a lazy smile to grow on his lips, the sort of smile developed after years of dealing with people too stupid to arrange their own crimes, a smile that sent shivers down the spines of many apart from Thalia and Sherlock Holmes. "No one ever gets to me." The smile vanishes, replaced by bored contentment. "And no one ever will." Sherlock pulls the hammer back, readying the gun to be fired. The only sign that Jim was even slightly concerned showing itself when he gently nudges Thalia to stand half-behind him.

“Obviously somebody did.” He nods towards Thalia, one brow cocked as he waited for an explanation.

“What makes you think I’m not just using her?” That amused smile makes itself known again, a faint curling at the corners of his lips. “After all, what better shield than an innocent little girl?” But the ruse wouldn’t last, not with Thalia being so comfortable around him and he knows he has to try for something else. “Or maybe I just stole her out of her crib like a faerie.”

“Come now, surely you can concoct a better lie than that? And even if he wasn’t here, you’d still be lying because here we are. I got to you, Moriarty.”

"You've certainly come the closest. Now you're in my way." He keeps his tone light, both to annoy Sherlock and to show Thalia that she needn't be afraid. The child grips the end of his suit jacket in her hands, her cheek pressed against his hip as she watches the show play out. She liked to watch these sorts of things, usually curled up in an office chair and watching on a computer screen at the grainy footage of a CCTV camera.

"Thank you."

"Didn't mean it as a compliment."

"Yes, you did."

"Yeah, okay, I did," he says with a playfully exaggerated shrug that got him a giggle from Thalia. Despite her grip on him, she was entirely at ease and knew Jim would do everything in his power to keep her safe. "But the flirting's over, Sherlock. Daddy's had enough now," the last sentence is said in a sing-song voice again as he starts walking, Thalia still clutching his jacket tightly. "I've shown you what I can do. I cut loose all those people, all those little problems, even thirty million quid just to get you to come out and play. So take this as a friendly warning... My dear." He glances down at the water, making up his mind completely that Thalia wouldn't be jumping in there any time soon. " _Back off_." He smiles again, continuing his little stroll towards the pair of consulting detectives. "Although I have loved this, this little  _game_  of ours." His tone changes once more, sounding more like how he voices Hagrid when he reads Thalia  _Harry Potter_. "Playing Jim from IT, playing gay." His tone returns to normal. "Did you like the little touch with the underwear?"

"People have died."

"That's what people _DO!_ " The sudden shout doesn't affect his daughter, the four year old used to his random screaming after playing, not to mention beating him, at Candyland on several occasions. His voice echoes off the walls and concrete, making it sound like there were ten of him instead of just the one.

"I will stop you."

"No, you won't." Jim shakes his head with a little shrug of his shoulders, unconcerned with Sherlock's threat.

"You all right," the interesting man asks Watson, his gaze moving to look the other man over. John says nothing, still in the same position he had started out in with his arms spread just enough that the coat front stays open. Jim leans over John's shoulder, to talk to him.

"You can talk, Johnny boy. Go ahead." Jim pulls back at John's nod, looking back at Sherlock as the taller man holds out something small and black.

"Take it."

"Huh? Oh, _that_." Thalia moves instead of Jim, Sherlock kneeling in front of her slowly to hand the USB drive off. He looked uncertain about whether or not to allow Thalia to return to Jim, but his intelligence wins out. Had he laid one hand on Thalia, Sebastian would have shot him without hesitation. Thalia returns to Jim's side, giving her daddy the tiny piece of equipment. "The missile plans." He kisses it, looking up with a smile. " _Boring!_ I could have got them anywhere." He tosses the USB drive into the water, Thalia plopping down on the ground beside him with her arms resting on the inflated ring around her waist. John moves suddenly, jumping up on Jim's back and holding him tightly against John's chest.

"Sherlock, run," the blond shouts at the same time, Thalia looking up at them with widened eyes. "Take the kid and get out of here!" One of John's arms wraps around Jim's neck, tugging his head back uncomfortably, yet despite all of that, Jim still laughs it off.

" _Good! Very_ _good!_ " Jim laughs again, the sound reassuring Thalia. The red beam of the laser moves as Sebastian readjusts himself above, hovering briefly over Jim's abdomen before moving back to its place on John's shoulder.

"If your sniper pulls that trigger, Mister Moriarty, then we both go up." John is breathless, the adrenaline the only thing keeping him standing at this point. Jim remains calm through it all, Thalia watching with her head tilted back slightly and her little mouth opened just the tiniest bit.

"Isn't he sweet? I can see why you like having him around, but then people do get so sentimental about their pets." Jim himself is an excellent example of that, what with his own pet tiger and cub living with him. John yanks roughly again, making Jim let out a small grunt. "And so touchingly loyal, but... _Oops!_ " Jim grins again as a new laser focused between Sherlock's eyes, Sebastian’s ex sister-in-law coming in handy. "You've rather shown your hand there, Doctor Watson." He can feel John tense, looking up to see the indecision on the other man's face before being released. "Gotcha." Jim smooths his suit jacket from where Watson had wrinkled the expensive fabric, sending Sherlock an incredulous look. "Westwood.”

“It looks better with pink frosting on it,” Thalia says smartly, giving Jim a toothy grin. Instead of admonishing her, he brings a finger up to his lips and she mimes zipping hers closed.

“Do you know what happens if you don't leave me alone, Sherlock? To you?"

"Oh, let me guess," Sherlock says knowingly," I get killed."

"Kill you?" Jim makes a face at the assumption. "No, don't be obvious. I mean I'm going to kill you anyway someday. I don't want to rush it, though. I'm saving it up for something special. No, no, no, no, no. If you don't stop prying, I'll burn you.” His expression turns somber, thoughts zipping through his mind almost too fast to comprehend; all the different plans his has in motion to make sure they always end up in one place with a pistol in Jim’s pocket and Sherlock all alone. “I will burn the  _heart_ out of you."

Sherlock takes great pains to look unaffected, but Jim knows that he's afraid of the threat and Jim knows that Sherlock's heart resides inside his pet doctor. Attack him or the kindly old woman that owns their flat and Sherlock will crumble away into abominable rage or utter despair.

"I have been reliably informed that I don't have one," Sherlock says quietly, a challenge if Jim has ever heard one.

"But we both know that's not quite true,” he counters. “Well, I'd better be off." Jim looks around the pool, holding out a hand for Thalia to take, which she does reluctantly. "So nice to have had a proper chat." Sherlock never lowers the pistol, only adjusting his hold on it to have a better grip, the barrel of it aimed at Jim's head.

"What if I was to shoot you right now?" Thalia's quick intake of breath is enough to start anger building inside him, but Jim suppresses it to save face.

"Then you could cherish the look of surprise on my face." He does a mock surprised expression before continuing. "Because I'd be surprised, Sherlock, really I would. And just a teensy bit..." Angry that Thalia would have blood all in her pretty hair and probably scarred for life. "Disappointed. And of course, you wouldn't be able to cherish it for very long." Sebastian wouldn't be very happy if his daughter is permanently traumatized. "Ciao, Sherlock Holmes." He tugs on Thalia's hand, making her walk with him to the nearest exit.

"Catch... You... Later."

"No, you won't."

Jim gives the two a moment alone to reassure themselves that everything would be alright, spending the time explaining why public pools were nasty and not to be entered unless unavoidable to a little girl that looked ready to start screaming at any second. She certainly doesn't have Sebastian's calm demeanor, she throws fits just like her worthless mother. He quickly cuts across the lobby to another door that would lead back into the pool, throwing it open before Thalia could burst into a complete tantrum.

"Sorry boys, I'm  _so_  changeable! It is a weakness with me, but to be fair to myself, it is my only weakness." Thalia waddles out, the huge inflatable ring making it difficult for her to walk. "You can't be allowed to continue. You just can't. I would try to convince you, but everything I have to say has already crossed your mind." The word _mind_ is drawn out a little in a silly tone.

"And probably my answer has crossed yours." Sherlock turns, raising the pistol once more only to lower it just enough for it to be pointed at the jacket rigged with Semtex. Jim smiles, just a small tug at the corner of his mouth. This is Sherlock's move, the one unpredictable thing to really happen today. He pulls that trigger and they all go up, just smears of blood hidden in the rubble left behind.

Just as the tension reached the crescendo, Jim's phone begins to ring, Stayin’ Alive echoing through the room and making Jim roll his eyes. _If Seb’s calling to chew me out about this, I’ll break his damn nose_. Sherlock and John share confused looks until Jim pulls the disposable mobile out of his pocket, looking at the caller ID to see if it was important. 

 _Irene Adler_ , he muses silently upon recognizing the number.

"Do you mind if I get that?"

"Go ahead, please. You've got the rest of your life." Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Thalia waddles her way over to Sherlock, holding out a hand expectantly. _Ah, here it comes, the moment I’ve really been looking forward to_.

"You said a bad word earlier," she states, making Sherlock raise a brow. "You owe me money for my swear jar." John and Sherlock share another look as Jim continues with the phone call, mouthing  _Sorry_  to them, but not interfering.

"I'm... Sorry, I don't have any money on me." Thalia shrugs with a smile, running and jumping in the pool before anyone could stop her. Her water wings and ring kept her above water and relatively safe as she kicks her feet to make her bob around the pool until she's close enough to have Jim pull her out with his phone stuck between his ear and shoulder.

"Say that again," Jim suddenly yells into the phone, nearly dropping his daughter when he hears what Irene said. "Say that again and know that if you're lying to me, I will find you and I will _skin_ you." His voice had returned to its normal pitch as he set Thalia back on her feet, frowning when he realizes that his suit was now wet. Irene repeats herself, the new information bouncing around inside his head as he thinks of what it can be used for. "Wait." He moves the phone away, looking down at the ground thoughtfully for a moment before locking gazes with Sherlock again. "Sorry. Wrong day to die." Maybe sometime next year when the plans are all fully formed. He still had to make up a portfolio for Plan A and that alone would take a month at the least. _Who knew being an actual actor could be so much work?_

"Did you get a better offer?" He gives the phone in his hand brief attention before half-turning away from Sherlock, looking at the man over his shoulder.

"You'll be hearing from me, Sherlock." He turns away completely now, wrapping his coat around Thalia's shoulders to prevent a cold as he leads them out of the disgusting place. "So if you have what you say you have," he says into the phone's speaker," I will make you rich. If you don't, I'll turn you into shoes." He snaps, signaling to Sebastian and Alicia to pack everything up and head back to the car.

"Am I in trouble," Thalia asks once outside, shivering in the early November cold. Jim looks down at her with an expression only parents are able to pull off, somewhere between menacing and irritated.

"Big trouble."


End file.
